Enjoying A Different Kind Of Existence
by XSketch
Summary: The storm after the calm lingers in their fears.


SPOILERS: post-The Truth  
CATEGORY: S, MSR, A, fluff  
FEEDBACK: Do I really have to beg? Pweeeeeease send me some!  
DISCLAIMER: This is Carter's and Ten-Thirteen's mess that we have to put up with - I'm just trying to make the whole mess more bearable and have a better resolution...no money is being made, honestly.  
ARCHIVE: I'd be honored, but please drop me a line to let me know where it's going )  
AUTHOR'S NOTES: This is a follow-up to my Xmas story 'A Different Kind Of Christmas' that wouldn't have been written if it weren't for a couple of people asking me to make it into a series (you know who you are and this is 'specially for you!) It's not necessary to have read the first story so don't panic if you haven't, but I'd be grateful if you did g

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Danger lurks around every corner. Shadows pose threats they can't see. They don't fit in with the other townsfolk. Nothing will ever be able to free them from this nightmare...

But they're enjoying it all the same.

Almost two years ago Fox Mulder had just learnt his partner had had to give away their son for adoption, and he'd been sentenced to death by lethal injection. But now he sits peacefully on the steps up to the back deck with a quietly-humming toddler seated on his knee. Now, after every twist and turn in his complicated life, he finally feels settled and free.

Of course, the child happily basking in his company and the woman resting on the couch in the living room after a long day working at the medical center have everything to do with that level of serenity and inner-peace, and he thanks whatever's watching over them every second of the day for these blessings.

"Daddy, 'fly!" William suddenly exclaims excitedly, clapping his hands together and pointing at the butterfly that lands on the lawn not far from them.

Mulder's smile widens as he lowers his head slightly to kiss the crest of his son's head and then looks over at the delicate, beautiful creature. "Pretty, huh?" he chuckles quietly.

"Mommy mo' pre'ee."

"Definitely, and she has to flutter around a lot more than that butterfly to keep us in check, but we'd better not tell Mommy that - you know how she gets when we say stuff like that in front of her."

As the toddler's squeal and the man's low snort of laughter echoed in the early-evening air, both fell silent again and continued to watch the insect until it flew away, out of view.

Mulder felt the contentment envelope and overwhelm him as he pondered over how the hell he had ended up here with all that he had. He'd loved Scully since their first case together - since she'd come to his motel room with her trust held out in her palm for his taking and asked him to check a couple of suspicious marks on her near-naked form - but if you'd told him four years ago, as their relationship broke past the boundaries they'd silently set (or even, for that matter, as he'd walked out on them nearly three years ago) that he'd be here now, settled in a large home overlooking the sea with his partner and son; the x-files so long and far behind them and only the occasional English lecture at the local school to call his 'job'... Well, the laughter exploding out of him would have rendered him unconscious - if not killed him outright.

"No storms on the horizon..."

He looked up at the sound of the familiar voice behind him and jostled William a little on his knee until he could reach out a free hand to Scully as she lowered herself onto the step beside him. Their eyes locked on each other.

"The sea's calm," she clarified, refusing to look away as she lost herself in the depths of his soul - still finding it difficult to grasp the fact that they really are together again.

He nodded his head slightly and carefully handed their son over to her. His warm smile grew as she gratefully accepted Will, quietly cooing "Hey, sweetie! You been good for Daddy?" but then it faded. Everything was so painfully perfect that he need never ask for anything again, but they're still fugitives on the run from an alien force that had plans to take over the planet in eight years, she still can't see her family, and they still have to fight for the future. It's their sacrifice, he supposes, but as the sun sets for the last time before they have to finally meet with Marita Covarrubias to discuss tactical moves to combat the coming apocalypse, it doesn't mean he has to agree with it.

"Me goo'," William replied - clearly tired but still trying to be as exuberant as always. "We saw bu'fly, but it no' as pre'ee as you...Even Daddy say so."

Dana hugged the boy closer (silently praying there would be more days like this after tomorrow) and then shot a raised eyebrow in her partner's direction.

"What can I say? The boy knows a pretty lady when he sees one," Mulder quipped with a shrug of his shoulders. "We could end up with the girls queuing outside our door when he's old enough!" He leaned in and kissed Scully on the lips. "I just hope he gets as lucky as I did and finds the right one."

Her lips parted and the kiss deepened briefly before they reluctantly broke apart and pressed their foreheads together.

"Kiss me too!" the small voice called from between them. They both obliged, but then Scully sighed and looked back out at the sea.

"You think it's the calm before the storm?" Mulder whispered, smoothing a hand over the top of Will's head.

She stood up and took a few steps away from the house with both arms wrapped around her, but there was no response, and all fell silent for at least fifteen minutes as they both weighed up the situation - both wishing they could change it or at least put it off so that they can savour this time just that little longer.

Finally, he set the boy down and moved to stand behind her.

"We can do this...I don't doubt that..." She paused and let her eyes slip shut. "I don't doubt us. But--"

"We're owed this," Mulder breathed into her ear, wrapping his arms around her waist. "We deserve this. We've lived this long knowing what has to be done, and we'll live like this when actually doing what has to be done. Don't think tomorrow will be the end. And...And if the storm does pick up, we'll just sail through it like we always have...If we'd avoided every storm on the horizon in the past, we'd have sunk ages ago."

She turned in the circle of his arms, staring at him for long seconds before lowering her head and glancing at Will, who intently stared back at the two of them. They'd found their truth, they'd learned to live a relatively normal life, and against all odds they were alive. He was right: there was nothing that could be thrown at them that they wouldn't be able to face.

This was who they were - their own different kind of existence - and, God, they deserved every second of it!

"There's always Hope," she smiled, looking back up at Mulder with a glint in her eye.

"But of course. But we can consider that more after dinner...and maybe even further after we've put the munchkin to bed." The brightness of his smile lifted her spirits even higher, and soon they were all making their way back into the house.

The sea remained quiet, but dark clouds begun to form on the eastern horizon.

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THE END


End file.
